Research Talk in Philosophy: James R. Beebe

The Institute of Philosophy hosts James R. Beebe for a research talk on August 21st, at 3-4:30pm, in room Ág303, Árnagarður, University of Iceland. The talk is entitled “Reflective Epistemic Autonomy” and will be in English.

Abstract

Some philosophers argue that the ideal of epistemic autonomy requires relying only upon oneself and the first-hand, first-order evidence one possesses and rejecting the testimony of others. Many scholars working on epistemic autonomy reject this ideal and argue that epistemic autonomy requires balancing reliance upon one’s own evidence with epistemic dependence upon others. Each of these philosophers draws important theoretical distinctions between different kinds of evidence – e.g., first-hand vs. second-hand and first-order vs. higher-order – and argues that epistemic autonomy consists in reliance upon a specified subset or combination of these kinds of evidence. In this paper, I articulate and defend a general account of epistemic autonomy that draws upon contemporary work on personal autonomy and argue that epistemic autonomy consists in critical and independent reflection upon one’s evidence and effectively governing one’s epistemic life in light of one’s epistemic judgments. I explain how understanding the kinds of reflection, control, ownership, and independence required for epistemically good self-governance reveals that defining epistemic autonomy in terms of specific kinds of evidence is misguided.

A short biography of the speaker

James R. Beebe is a Professor of Philosophy at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), where he serves as Director of the Experimental Epistemology Research Group. Beebe specializes in epistemology, experimental philosophy, and moral psychology, with a focus on understanding how empirical methods can illuminate traditional philosophical questions. His extensive publications addresse topics such as skepticism, reliabilism, a priori knowledge, and the intersection of moral judgments with epistemic assessments.